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This may not affect every Android user reading this, but it's unfortunate news nonetheless. Android Police reports that G Suite administrators have received email notices from Google warning that SMS will no longer be supported in Google's de facto chat app as of May 22nd. Affected Hangouts users will be seeing the above in-app alert starting March 27th.

Hangouts has supported SMS since Android 4.4; those who made use of it—myself included for a time—enjoyed the benefits of needing one less icon on their home screen and, more importantly, having all of their non-email messages contained within a single app.

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau (seen above) released his government's 2017 budget yesterday, and at least two sources that I follow for digital rights in this country have already expressed concern over a vague passage contained therein. Here is that passage:

To ensure that Canadians continue to benefit from an open and innovative Internet, the Government proposes to review and modernize the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act. In this review, the Government will look to examine issues such as telecommunications and content creation in the digital age, net neutrality and cultural diversity, and how to strengthen the future of Canadian media and Canadian content creation.

Nowak concedes that with broadcast and telecom now effectively sharing the same series of tubes it no longer makes sense to separate the legislation governing them. However, a review of this country's enviable net neutrality rules is entirely unnecessary, duplicating work already done by the CRTC.

Dr. Geist adds to this the looming spectre of ISP and/or Netflix taxes, channeling even more money back into our operators—who are, in case you forgot, also our broadcasters—all while foreign sources fund more English language Canadian television than ever before. Geist also points to the coming renegotiation of NAFTA, and its implications for Canada's digital policy.

The global fashion powerhouse recognizes the importance of providing smart, hi-tech value on the wrists of their young, sexy, and adventurous consumers. GUESS was one of the first fashion brands to embrace the trend of wearable technology with the launch of GUESS Connect in 2015. Now, with the announcement of GUESS Connect, GUESS Watches are extending their lead in the growing display smartwatch segment.

Well, the important things are (1) they're running Android Wear 2.0, (2) they won't cost thousands of dollars, and most importantly (3) there's no flat tire.

Lots of tech sites—iVerge, for example—are summarily dismissing these first Android Wear watches from Guess. In doing so they fail to see that this is yet one more step in Android's takeover of the traditional wristwatch industry. Oh, and there's one more thing: Sequel, the parent company of Guess, is part of Timex Group B.V., making these technically the first Android-powered watches from Timex. That's a pretty big deal.

It may too gaudy for some, but I think the 44mm men's model above looks rather fetching.

As for this 41mm ladies model, um... no comment. Guess I'm not young, sexy or adventurous enough.

Specs for both watches include the standard for Android Wear Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 chip. AW 2.0's standalone will have the added benefit of making the watches more independent of the phone they're paired to, and thus more compatible with iOS.

And just so we're clear, a helpful redditor on r/apple has whipped up this graphic to illustrate what that means— not actually a falling drop, but instead a drop resting on a surface. As you can see on the right, it was a hallmark of the original iPhone's design, and is apparently making a comeback on the 10th anniversary edition of the device.

The rumour comes from Korean site ET News; here's a translation by 9to5Mac:

Apple’s next iPhone is expected to be closer to ‘water drop design’. It embodies the back side design with curved emphasis, resembling the initial iPhone. This year, the 10th anniversary of the birth of the iPhone, it also shows the character of ‘Omaju’ for the early works.

Yeah, no idea what Omaju is, either...

While it may feature a retro design, other facets of the iPhone 8 will be entirely new, at least for Apple fans—including a 5.8 inch OLED display, wireless charging and USB-C port. If none of this floats your boat, Apple will also be selling a spec-bumped iPhone 7s and 7s Plus alongside their 10th anniversary smartphone.

These are only rumours, of course, albeit from a fairly credible source.

Early yesterday morning, master leaker Evan Blass tweeted this image of the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. The 5.8 inch S8 appears on the top row in (from left to right) Black Sky, Orchid Grey and Arctic Silver. The 6.2 inch S8 Plus, distinguishable by the slightly smaller bezels according to Android Police, appears in the same colours along the bottom row.

A few hours later Blass tweeted the European pricing for the phones—€799 for the S8 and €899 for the S8 Plus. At current rates, that's $859.76 and $967.35 USD respectively, which seems unusually high, even for Samsung. It could be that the South Korean conglomerate is anticipating a higher price tag for this year's 10th anniversary iPhone and moving their own prices upmarket to match.

These aren't the first leaks about Samsung's latest; AP has reported on previous leaks here, here and here. It is, however, the first clear picture of the entire lineup, expected to be made official on Thursday, March, 29th.

I think it's supposed to rhyme with "ATM". And honestly, that's about the only thing about this story that makes any sense.

Mobile Syrup reported yesterday that Paytm, the largest mobile payments company in India, was coming to Canada. In fact, it's technically already here—they've apparently been renting office space in Toronto since 2014.

How does it work? I found these instructions from Gadgets360, an Indian tech site:

1. Set up a Paytm account using your mobile number and email;
2. Add money to your Paytm Wallet from your bank, debit or credit card;
3. Select 'Pay or Send' to transfer money to someone else;
4. Make a payment by scanning a QR code, or...
5. Send money to another Paytm user via their phone number.

So the business model here is fairly obvious; at any given time Paytm is making interest off of whatever cash their 150 million users have deposited in their mobile wallets. And while I can certainly appreciate the value of a mobile wallet in a country where maybe not everyone has a credit card, I don't think that's so much the case in Canada. Furthermore, there are existing solutions already offering some or all of Paytm's features—SmoothPay, PayPal, and ZenBanx are similar apps that I've previously covered here.

If you're a Canadian with business and/or family in India (or vice versa) then the arrival of Paytm in this country is probably great news. But I'm struggling to see any value in it for anyone else.

The inspiration for today's post comes from a story this week on ZDNet, about how Pidgin, an IM client for Linux, is unable to support popular platforms like Slack or WhatsApp. This may sound crazy, but not so long ago there was a time when such disparate chat service could all be accessed by the same app.

For desktop Linux Pidgin did a great job, and for my S60-powered Nokia smartphones of the late 2000s there were even more choices—Fring, IM+ and Nimbuzz each enabled me to connect to Facebook Messenger, Hangouts (then Google Talk) and more, all from a single interface. The magic that made this possible was, in most cases, the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol—XMPP for short.

And what about those Nokia chat apps? Of the three, Nimbuzz is the only one still in service, now running its own proprietary IM platform and pseudo-VoIP service. Walled gardens, it seems, are the way of the future when it comes to chat.

Fortune ran a piece last week about how luxury watchmakers are circling their wagons around Android Wear, to keep their products relevant in the age of the Apple Watch. If you're an Android user with an appreciation for the traditional timepiece, this is great news.

The Movado Group is the latest Android Wear licensee, and will be bringing their first smartwatches to market this fall. The group's brands include Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss, but what I'm excited about is the Movado Connect; according to Droid Life it will be a lineup of five designs based on the iconic Museum Watch, like the Movado Edge you see above.

Movado's smartwatches will start at $495 USD, a bargain when compared to the second-generation TAG Heuer Connected.

As aBlogtoWatch reports, the TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 will cost a little more ($1,650 USD) for a slightly smaller watch (45mm). As the "Modular" moniker would suggest, the user can change not only the bands but the lugs as well. There are now more colour and material options for the bezel, and the upgraded phone app will include TAG Studio, granting you the power to make your own watch face from scratch.

And hey, if a $1,650 USD smartwatch isn't enough of a status symbol for you, there's also a limited edition set that includes a mechanical Tourbillon module. That'll set you back a cool $17,000, but at least you'll have a working watch to pass on to your next of kin...

I really hate it when I have to use this image, but here we are once again.

Last Friday security firm Check Point published a blog post detailing malware found in products from "a multinational technology company" and "a large telecommunications company". I can only surmise that the latter is a carrier; the former would seem to suggest an online retailer, but the products from Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi makes me think that it's not Best Buy.

What's unique about this particular infections is that they were added in the supply chain—that is, somewhere between the manufacturer and end user. Here's the list of infected devices, with the offending APKs in italics:

Hopefully no one reading this is affected by any of the malware listed above. If you want to make sure your device is safe, Check Point, Lookout and Malwarebytes are three malware scanners recommended by Ars Technica.

Google has taken their fair share of lumps from yours truly as of late, what with faulty Pixels, freemium Hangouts and such. But this is something really cool. One of Android's main selling points over its closest rival is the ability to customize your home screen—not just with wallpapers but with custom icons and 3rd-party launchers as well. To get you started Google has a new site, the #myAndroid Taste Test.

It takes less than a minute to complete, and consists of a series of binary choices—light or dark, vibrant or muted, animated or static, etc. Completing the test gives you a recommended wallpaper, icon pack, launcher, home screen widget and keyboard. As an example, here are the suggestions I got from taking the test just now:

Okay, so three out of the five recommendations are for Google-made products, but it could have been worse... Another way to get inspiration is by looking at the recommendations from others. #myAndroid isn't exactly trending on Twitter, but over on r/Android redditors are currently discussing the merits of Evie Launcher, and I'm pretty sure that the #myAndroid Taste Test had something to do with that.

If you're tired of your home screen and want to try something new, Google's taste test is a decent place to get started.